DREAM COULD BECOME REALITY
COLUMBIA, Mo. ? After 36 matches it all comes down to one for California Baptist after it defeated Concordia 3-0 (30-23, 30-21, 30-18) in the second semifinal match of the NAIA Volleyball National Championship. The Lancers (31-4) will now play Fresno Pacific, who defeated Biola 3-0, in the title game at 7:30 p.m. The Eagles (30-6) fell for the fourth straight time to CBU with the last three matches coming by way of a 3-0 sweep.
Verania Willis led the way for the Lancers with 22 kills and hit .308 (22-6-52) and was just a dig shy of a double-double with nine. Shi Fei ripped 16 kills while hitting .385 (16-1-39). Kayla Van Duyn dished out 45 assists while Katrina Clark and Rachel Gowen led the defense. Clark had 19 digs while Gowen had five blocks.
The Lancers led 15-14 midway through the opening game when the Eagles made a small run to take an 18-15 lead, but the Lancers answered back to take the lead at 20-19. Willis broke a 20-20 tie with a kill to give CBU the lead for good. The Lancers led 24-23 before Caitlin Parker served out the game and added an ace to help CBU take a 1-0 match lead.
In the second game CBU broke a 13-13 tie on another Willis kills and it cruised from there on into the final game. The Lancers opened the third game scoring the first five points behind the service of Parker. Later in the game the Lancers led 18-14 and then proceeded to close out the match and secure a championship match spot with a 12-4 run.
With the Lancers and the Sunbirds meeting up for the title match, it makes the 12th time in the 28-year history of the NAIA Volleyball National Championship that a team from the GSAC will play for the national title. It also guarantees the sixth time a team from the conference will win the national championship.
